Automatic mail and parcel delivery apparatus.



PATENTED MAR. 5, 1907.

Z. PI DEDERICK. AUTOMATIC MAIL` AND PARCEL DELIVERY APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED DEO. 6. v1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 845,765.l PATENTED MAR. 5, 1907.

Z. P. DBDERICK.

UTOMATIG MAIL AND PARCEL `DELIVERY APPARATUS.

APPLIGATION FILED DB0. s. 190e.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N' Q N. Nxga o l liv.:

box, either of which could be employedl ZADOC P. DEDERICK, OF SHERMAN,TEXAS.

AUTOMATIC MAIL AND PARCEL DELIVERY APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters atent.

Patented March 5, 1907'.

Application filed December 6, 1906. Serial liloA 346,559.

T0 a/Z wiz/0m it ivi/(ty concern.;

Be it known that I, ZADoc P. Dnnnnrox, a citizen of the United States,residing at Sherman, in the county of Grayson and State of Texas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Mail andParcel Delivery Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention pertains to mechanism for automatically delivering andcollecting mail, and relates particularly to mechanism for use on ruralmail routes.

The object of the invention is to provide a device that can be loadedwith mail at the post-office and sent out through the country over wiressupported by poles, to automatically deliver the mail to the respectivemailboxes along the route, and at the same time to receive from saidboxes mail which has been deposited for forwarding to other local1-ties, Lthis collecting also being made automatically and simultaneouslyas the device proceeds on its journey.

The invention further relates to other uses and details of construction,as will be pointed out in the specification and claims appended.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of amail-car traveling upon two wires arranged one above the other atsuitable distances apart and carried by poles set at intervals tosupport the same. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the mail-car, wires uponwhich it travels, also a pole supporting the wires and retaining them intheir proper relative positions. l art of the mail-car is broken away toshow a mail-box within in the act of receiving and delivering mail and amotor by which it is propelled. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the same. Fig.4 is a perspective view of the main body of the car. Fig. 5 is aperspective view of a shelf secured cen trally within body of car forreceiving mail to be placed in a mailbox, and it also shows a dependingleaf or scraper at its forward end for brushing any mail from within amail-b ox that such mail may be deposited and carried along in thebottom of mail-car to the post ofi-ice. Fig. 6 is a perspective view ofa rural mail-b ox to be used with this device. Fig. 7 is a perspectiveview of a two-comp artment box into which mail to be delivered along aroute is piled. It is shown resting upon top of car in Figs. 1, 2, and3. Figs. and 9 show, respectively, a three and four compartment shouldone of two compartments not have suiicient capacity to carry theoutgoing mail. Figs. 10 and 11 show a metal sheet used to separate themail for the diiferent mail-boxes along the route when it is placed in acompartment for distribution. Fig. 12 is a view showing a building fromwhich wires extend supported by poles and showing a mail-car travelingon such wires. Figs. 13 and 14 are detail views of the spring-catchattached to mail-boxes.

In Figs. 1,2, 3, and 4 the reference-letter A indicates the car forcarrying mail. Four deeply-grooved wheels B, two at each end of thiscar, travel on two overhead wires C C, placed one above the other andsupported by brackets D and D', attached to posts E. The wires C C arearranged for conducting an electrical current out along the route takenby the car, said current being transmitted to and from a suitable motorF within the car, as shown in Fig. 2.

It will be understood that proper insulation and other well-knownelectrical a pliances Vwill be necessary, but cannot e claimedspecifically in connection with a device of this character.

Secured tothe motor-shaft is shown a` sprocket-pinion F', from which alink belt B' passes to and around sprocket-wheel B2, secured to one endof grooved-wheel shaft B3. Attached to the opposite end of this shaft isa similar sprocket-wheel B4, that imparts motion through link 'belt B5to another sprocket-wheel B, attached to end of shaft B7, carrying oneof the upper grooved wheels B. These grooved wheels may be lined withrubber, if deemed advisable, and should the driving of two of them notbe found adequate for a very hilly mail route all four of the wheels maybe driven ina manner similar to the two described. A2 are verticalsupports in which the two upper grooved wheels are journaled.

The body of car A is made of sheet metal and provided at each end withan opening sufficiently large to admit of the inail-box G passingthrough it without touching'.

Extending along the side of car passing nearest to post E is a slot A',which admits of the car passing supporting-bracket G' of mail-box, Thisslot is covered to keep out wind, rain, or snow by a folded strip ofsheetrubber A2, as shown in Fig. 4.

Centrally within the body of car A is a IOC) shelf H, secured to lowerside of slot A. This shelf is shown in detail in Fig. 5. It is providedwith two raised sides H, ribs a, ex-

tending from front to rear, and a semicircular leaf b, pivoted at b insuch a manner that it rises freely outwardly, but will swing back to avertical position only. This leaf conforms in shape to the lower half ofmail-box G, through which it and the shelf freely pass.

The top of mail-car A is flat and provided with an upwardly-projectingpin c, lateral and transverse opening I, raised catch d, and transverseslot e, all of which will be more definitely referred to hereafter.

J represents a two-compartment mail-receptacle. Each compartment shouldbe of sufficient width and length to receive letters and papers usuallysent out by rural carriers. The depth might be about twice its length.This mail-receptacle has an aperture on the bottom side that fits pin c.The top side is provided with a pin f, that is journaled in pivotedcover K, thus enabling the receptacle to turn freely when necessary. Theinwardly-bent flanges J prevent the sheets O from dropping downward whenmail-matter is arranged as shown in Fig. 2.

On the outer ends of the receptacles and near the lower side are pivotedT-latches g, provided each with a downwardly-proj ecting leg g', and aspring 7L serves for retaining the latch in engagement with the catch d,all of which is shown connected in Figs. l, 2, and 3. If three or fourcompartment receptacles are required, the one with two compartments canbe instantly removed by raising cover K and either of the others asquickly substituted, or for a very populous route two receptacles withfour compartments each can readily be provided, which should handle mailfor more than four hundred rural boxes.

The rural mail-boxes G required to operate with this device are shown indetail in Fig. 6. They are constructed of sheet-iron, preferably, have acircular bottom and fiat top, and are provided with an opening or slotG2, extending the whole length 0f one side, and from the top edge ofslot the metal is bent outward, G, thence downward at a gradual taper,the end terminating in a bend outward and perforated at G3, whichperforation lits loosely the guiderod i, Fig. l. The outward bend G isalso perforated at j j, through which perforations pass the guiderods k7c. To the top side, at front end of box G, is hinged a leaf K. (Shownclearly in Fig. l.) The lower edge of this leaf is serrated to looselycover the raised parts on shelf H and are provided principally to guardagainst the possibility of the leaf K failing to rake all mail from theshelf H even if the mail box or car after protracted use should needadjustment.

' oted rod p.

The leaf K swings freely inwardly, but outwardly can come to a verticalposition only. The semicircular door Z, also at front end of mail-box,is secured by a single arm m to a rod n, that is pivoted in both sidesof mailbox. This door is prevented from swinging inwardly by raisedstrips 0 on lower inside of mail-box, but is free to swing outwardlywhen required.

L is another section of 4a door free to swing both inwardly andoutwardly when required, K and L both being hinged to the rod n, andtheir relative requirements will be referred to again. At the oppositeend of mail-box is another semicircular door, shown by dotted lines andcarried by an arm secured to a piv- It is similar to that of l, butarranged to swing inwardly only. The leaf or door M is pivoted looselyto rod p, drops down over the outside of circular door, and may swingfreely either way. Secured to the top side and projecting over front endof mail-box is a spring-catch N. The forward end is bent down andrecessed, forming a rearwardly-projecting tongue N In Figs. l() and 11are shown metal sheets O, made preferably of aluminium and should litloosely within the compartments of mailreceptacle J. One end of thesheet has a slight bend downward, as at O, and centrally located.. Atthe lower edge of this bend is a narrow baclwardly and upwardlyprojecting tongue O2, terminating at and secured to lower side of thesheet. The raised U-shaped projection O3 on top side of sheet is usedonly on the last sheet placed in a mailreceptacle that has been filled.W'hen this sheet is drawn from the receptacle, the raised U-shapedportion will engage the projecting leg g, raising the spring-latch gfrom catch d, allowing the coiled spring P at top of receptacles toquickly whirl them half way around, bringing the other receptacle inposition for distributing its supply of mail. lt will be noted in thisconnection that either a three or four compartment receptacle, as shownin Figs. 8 and 9, can readily be employed, as the catch would preventeither swinging only to the next successive compartment when latch isalternately lifted.

Attention is now directed to the arrangement of poles for carrying thewires and inailboxes, and the same may be understood from the following:In erecting a system the wires and boxes are carried at considerableheight above the ground, so as to interfere with nothing. Wherever amail-box is to he located, the pole should be of iron pipe set firmly inthe ground, and it is thought preferable to have all poles of the samematerial. Near the top end of each pipe are secured projecting arms Dand D, the outer end of each being bent upward, adapting y them to thepassage of the grooved wheels IOO of mail-car. To the upper portion ofthese bent ends the wires C C are secured in a suitable manner.Centrally located between the arms D and D and secured to the pipe is abracket Q, consisting of two projecting arms, at the ends of which aresecured the guide-rods 7c 7c and centrally between them the guide-rod i.pass loosely through apertures y' y' of mailbox, and the rod i passesthrough aperture G3 of same. To the outward bend Cr of mail-box issecured a cord or chain R, passing j upward and over a pulley g, securednear top of pole E, thence downward within the pipe, where it isattached to a weight. (Shown dotted at S, Fig. l.) By means of this cordand weight the mailbox is held firmly against the under side of bracketQ and is in proper position to receive the inail-car when it passes overthe route. .To place mail in the boxes for forwarding or to remove anymatter the car has deposited, the box is pulled down by means of cordR', attached to lower portion G3 of mail-box. /Vhen the cord isreleased, weight S quickly elevates it to its proper position adjacentto bracket Q. It will be noted that the guide-rods c 7c are bentbackward after leaving the bracket Q to a line with'the post E at thepoint where lower bracket D is secured, thence downward and outwardagain about the same dis` tance, whence they descend vertically to apoint a few feet from the ground, where they are secured to bracket Q.These bends are provided to admit of the mail-box when ascending ordescending passing the lower wire. Also to admit of the passage of themail-box the bracket D is provided with a later al bend, as shown inFigs. 2 and 8.

In placing the mail within the receptacles provided for this mail-carthe various articles are arranged in the order in which they are to bedeliveredthat is to say, in rural delivery perhaps fifty or one hundredlots oi' mail are to be delivered, in doing which the mail-carriersusually have the various deliveries arranged in the order in which theysuccessively arrive at their destinations. Therefore the postmaster willplace mail to be left in the first box on the shelf H within. the car.The mail-receptacle J then being in place on top of car, as shown inFig. 2, a sheet C is placed within., where it rests on the flanges J.Mail for box No. 2 is placed on this sheet and another sheet inserted,and so on alternately for all the boxes. /Vhere there is no mail for abox or any number of boxes, sheets are inserted for all of them, andwhen a box is reached for which there is mail it is placed on the sheet.It will be noted that a sheet must be inserted for every mail-box thecar is to pass, whether there is mail for the box or not, which rendersit avery simple matter for the device to pass any number of boxes forwhich The rods 7c 7c there is no mailand when it reaches a box for whichthere is mail as readily deposit it.

Now, assuming that all the outgoing mail has been placed in thereceptacles, the current will be turned on and the car started over theroute. Upon reaching the iirst mailbox the shelf H will be carriedthrough it', when i'f any outgoing mail has been placed therein it willbe brushed out by the depending leaf b and dropped to the bottom of thecar. r shows a package being removed from the box, and r the samedeposited at bottom of car. As the shelf continues its passage throughthe mail-box the package placed upon it for delivery strikes theoutwardlyimmovable leaf K, Fig. l, and as the shelf slides along fromunder it is dropped within the mail-box. At this juncture the ilange Oof the leaf C engages the spring-catch N, secured to top side ofinail-box, and as the car passes along said leaf is drawn from the re-rceptacle J, when the mail, if any was placed on it, drops to the shelf Hand is carried along to the next box, where it is brushed off by anotherdepending leaf K, as has been already explained. The leaf O is held bythe spring N until the slot e, Fig. 4, reaches it, when thedownwardly-turned corners of this slot forces it loose, whence it dropsto the bottom of car and is carried along by same. This operation isrepeated at every box the car passes until the last sheet in amail-receptacle is reached. This sheet is provided with the U-shapedprojection, and when it is drawn from the receptacle it engages the legg', lifting the latch g, when the coiled spring P revolves thereceptacles one-half way around, bringing the one from which the mailhas not been removed to the position occupied by the one just emptied,when the process of delivery continues until all the mail-boxes have TOObeen passed. If the route is a belt-line, the

car continues its course around same and back to the post-oiiice, butprovision is made for it to pass out, say, twelve miles on a route,reverse at the end of same by passing under a wire or other suitablemeans for reversing a lever, and return car over the same wires withoutdisturbing the mail it has deposited in the boxes on its outwardjourney. This is rendered possible by the construction of the dependingleaf b, attachedto shelf H. It opens outwardly, but not inwardly, andwhen the car is propelled backward on its return this leaf raises whencoming in contact with the semicircular door Z of mail-boxes and glidesthrough them above the mail they contain.

If desired, rural telephones maybe provided along a route equipped withthis device by making connection with the wires C C in a suitable mannerand extending a wire to the building in which such service is desired. Aproper switchboard at the post-oilice from IIO which the cars areforwarded would also be necessary.

Another use to which this device would seem applicable is aparcel-delivery system for towns and cities. The receiving-boxes shouldbe carried by poles similar to those used for mail service and largeenough to receive ordinary packages of about ten pounds weight. The car,also wires upon which it travels, would require to be larger for thisservice.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States of America,

1. An automatic mail and parcel delivery apparatus comprising a car A,wires C C for carrying the same, a mail-receptacle J carried by the car,lid K for supporting the upper portion thereof, spring lJ for revolvingthe receptacles, latch g and catch g for retaining the receptacles aftereach successive movement, in combination with mail-boxes Gr situatedalong the mail route, the springcatch N thereon, the raised members 0within and the doors at either end of mail-box, all arrangedsubstantially as shown and described and operating simultaneously.

2. An automatic mail and parcel delivery apparatus comprising a car forcarrying the several packages of mail to be received or delivered, amail-receptacle carried upon said car, means for supporting andactuating said receptacle, a series of metal sheets for carrying andseparating the inail-packages, means for drawing the sheets in anintermittent manner for dropping the mail for delivery held betweenthem, and other means for releasing the sheets and depositing them atthe bottom 'of car, whereby they are returned to the postoflice to beagain thus employed.

3. An automatic mail and parcel delivery apparatus comprising a car forcarrying receptacles containing mail to be distributed, metal sheetswithin such receptacles by which mail for the different inail-boxes areseparated, such sheets adapted to deliver their mail in successive orderand means for withdrawing the sheets at the proper time, in combinationwith inail-boxes placed along the route, and means on the car forremoving mail from the said boxes simultaneously with the drawing of thesheets and depositing the mail thus removed within the mailcar,substantially as shown and described.

4. An automatic mail and parcel delivery apparatus comprising areceptacle having compartments for containing the mail to bedistributed, the same carried by a car arranged to receive mail fromboxes along the route, a series of metal sheets adapted to be placedwithin the compartments of such receptacles for separating anddelivering the mail in successive order, means for withdrawing thesheets from said compartments and dropping the mail upon a shelf withinthe mail-car7 whence it is deposited alternately within a series ofmail-boxes along the route, from which, at the same time mail isreceived from the said mail-boxes in successive order as they arereached, dropped therefrom into the mail-car and carried to thepostoiiice for forwarding.

5. An automatic mail and parcel delivery apparatus comprising car A forcarrying the mail to be distributed and collected, deeplygrooved wheelsB mounted on said car, an electric motor F located centrally withinsame, a sprocket-pinion F secured to motorshaft, a link belt B extendingfrom said pinion to sprocket-wheel B2 secured to groovedwheel shaft B3,a similar sprocket-wheel B4 secured to opposite end of shaft B3 aroundwhich passes link belt Bi to and around sprocket-wheel B6 attached toupper groovedwheel shaft B7 enabling the motor, when started to revolvethe two grooved wheels thus connected and propel the car alongsupporting-wires C for the purposes set forth and described.

6. An automatic mail and parcel delivery apparatus comprising a car A, areceptacle J carried thereby for containing the mail for delivery, themetal sheets O provided therefor, the downwardly projection O and tongueO2 formed on one end of each of these sheets enabling th'em to be drawnfrom the receptacle, and a shelf H centrally located within body of car,in combination with a series of inail-boxes G carried by poles at theroadside for holding mail to vbe collected or delivered by said car,these boxes being constructed with circular bottom, a slot at one sideextending from end to end, a spring-catch N for engaging the sheets O,and doors at each end for closing same, all as herein set forth.

7. In a mail deliveryand receiving apparatus, poles set at intervalsadapted to carry two overhead wires arranged at suitable distancesapart, one above the other, a car adapted to travel thereon, amail-carrying member on the car arranged for delivery of mail-packages,a means for removing mail from mail-boxes placed at intervals along theroute, and likewise depositing any mail for said boxes within them whilesuccessively passing through body of car, suitable doei s at each end ofinail-boxes that will be simultaneously opened and closed by the passageof the car, substantially as described.

8. In a mail delivery and receiving apparatus, a car carryingmail-receptacles, overhead wires upon which the car travels, suitablebrackets for the support of said wires, said brackets secured to pipeposts firmly embedded in the ground, depending guide-rods ICO IIO

'for the inail-box provided therefor, a suitable reach from the ground,all as and for the purcord extending upward from Inail-box, over l posespecified. IO pulley near top of post, thence downward In testimonywhereof I aEX my signature within said post and attached to a Weight forl in presence of two witnesses.

retaining said box adj acent to the bracket Q ZADOG l?. DEDERICK. whereit is in position to receive or discharge Witnesses: its mail, and asimilar oord R passing down- J. P. GEREN,

ward from mail-box to a point Within easy W. W. JENNINGS.

